The Future of Knowledge

Astronomy and AI – Multidisciplinary and Outreach

In 2024, Canterbury Christ Church University returned with its second STFC summer school on the use of AI in astronomy, with emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach of bringing together knowledge and researchers from different fields utilising AI, to devise solutions and create new opportunities. A programme of seminars explored multidisciplinary perspectives, uses of digital technology and outreach. There was also the opportunity for attendees to participate in outreach training and a public engagement activity.

Aimed at students with an interest in astronomy and AI, this summer school was part of the Epistemic Insight Future of Knowledge Initiative at Canterbury Christ Church University and funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. The five-day programme took place online 8-9th July followed by hybrid and in person attendance 10-12th July at the university’s Augustine House Library, and built upon the experience and success of the course ran in 2023.

You can find the session recordings here!

Many of the online and hybrid sessions were recorded and made publicly available after the conclusion of the summer school, to be of benefit to a wider audience – if you are interested, please take a look!

As part of the summer school, attendees and experts alike addressed a range of Big Questions, including what the future of astronomy looks like, whether artificial intelligence can have a sense of curiosity, and the value of collaborating with other disciplines.

Check out our Q&A with Astronomers!

Online Event

Additionally, an online event was held the week before on Wednesday 3rd July, with a focus on providing specialist seminars and panel discussions about the future of astronomy, as well as example use cases of AI in astronomy. This online event could be registered for separately to the summer school, and reached a wider audience of students (not just those attending the summer school).

Find out more about our online event!

The Programme

Feedback from the first summer school showed that participants appreciated the value of exploring multidisciplinary perspectives and experiences of AI, being encouraged to ‘think outside the box’ and the quality of expertise and seminars. As such, the course this year continued to provide seminars, workshops, and one-to-one conversations where the participants can learn about the role of AI in astronomy and beyond, collaborate to co-create new projects and get expert perspectives on their work. Participants explored and gained insights in three key areas:

  • What are the roles of AI in astronomy and in the sciences more broadly?
  • What do curiosity and knowledge creation look like in a world of AI?
  • Public engagement and working with AI to engage new audiences in astronomy.

Regarding the final point, the Thursday featured sessions on public engagement and outreach training. There was also an opportunity for public outreach in which participants could opt to stay another night and work with us on an event for schools on the Friday, involving working with immersive tech to communicate ideas in astronomy, and assessing generative AI as a tool for creating activities and puzzles relating to their work. The video here showcases a pilot session co-created with teachers in one of our research schools.

Take a look at the Outreach Day!

Schedule

The schedule started with two online days 8-9th July. This was followed by our three-day in-person programme running 10-12th July at the university’s Augustine House Library, with the option for virtual attendance for some of Wednesday. Those wishing to attend in person were provided with university accommodation next to the venue.

Monday 8th to Wednesday 10th: seminars, workshops, and one-to-one conversations for attendees to learn about the role of AI in astronomy and beyond, including attendees collaborating to co-create new projects and getting expert perspectives on their work.

Thursday 11th: training sessions on public engagement & outreach, including workshops and tips for creating websites, creating and presenting in videos, and editing videos with AI tools. There is also a session on outreach for schools.

Friday 12th: outreach event on Friday for a local school, with the opportunity for summer school attendees to help out. Includes engaging presentations, interactive workshops, fun with Astronomy and AI, multidisciplinary stories, and continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities for teachers.

Here is the schedule:

STFC Astronomy and AI Summer School – Timetable and Schedule v4.1Download

Organisers

Berry Billingsley specialises in Science Education and leads the LASAR (Learning about Science and Religion) Research Centre at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU). Berry’s interests include Epistemic Insight, young people’s engagement in science, artificial intelligence, Big Questions bridging science, religion and the wider humanities and also the communication of science and technology news in the media. Berry’s first career was with the BBC where she produced and presented television and radio programmes including BBC World Service’s ‘Science in Action’, BBC TV’s ‘Tomorrow’s World’ and BBC Education’s ‘Search out Science’.

James Pearson is an early career researcher at the Open University with a background in astronomy that includes developing deep learning methods (e.g. Bayesian convolutional neural networks) for classifying and modelling strong gravitational lenses. He is now working on developing and supporting citizen science projects, both inside and outside of astronomy, using the popular Zooniverse citizen science platform. He has been leading the work on one such project, Galaxy Zoo Cosmic Dawn, which is creating crowdsourced classifications of galaxies in images from the 8.2-metre Subaru telescope. To aid researchers in managing their own Zooniverse projects, James has also created tutorials documenting advanced project building techniques, including integrating citizen science with deep learning frameworks such as setting up an active learning cycle.

Speakers

Mina Cullimore. I am a research fellow and educator, with expertise in resource development and public engagement activities for school, higher education, and community settings. My projects with the LASAR Research Centre develops the use of Big Questions to encourage interdisciplinary dialogue, through the arts, sciences, and humanities, to build and apply knowledge in wise, compassionate, and sustainable ways. As part of a recent STFC-funded public engagement project with Diamond Light Source, I have worked with scientists, teachers, and children to create multimedia resources that explore aspects of heritage, life on Earth, and astronomy.

Elfneh Bariso. I am a Senior Lecturer in Further Education and Skills in the School of Teacher Education at CCCU. I am the lead for the Math’s specialist pathway and the Developing Practice Module. I also serve as an academic link tutor with partner FE colleges.

Kevin Walsh. I am Astronomer-in-Residence at Westminster School, UK and professor of Science Education, Shaanxi Normal University, PRC. My research area is Astronomy Education with a focus on ArchaeoAstronomy and Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning. I do a lot of outreach work with the Royal Astronomical Society and am editor of the Bulletin of the Society for the History of Astronomy.

William Beckwith-Chandler. I am a third-year PhD student at the University of Exeter, studying Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics. I work within the Mathematics department studying flows and oscillations in solar prominences. My experience is predominantly in timeseries analysis and image data handling. I have recently been incorporating AI into my work for automated object detection from satellite images.

Ted Selker. Ted Selker is BayCHI Chair. He is known for demonstrating and testing new ways of using technology and designing products. He works to create and guide strategic emerging technology opportunities. Ted has helped create many companies and is a founder of Moto Carma. Ted lectures internationally on innovation/invention, design, and User eXperience. He currently holds adjunct professor positions at several universities and has been a professor at CMU and MIT Media Lab. Prior to joining the MIT faculty, he gained the title of IBM Fellow, where he directed the User Systems Ergonomics Research Lab. He has served as a consulting professor at Stanford University, taught at University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Hampshire and Brown Universities, and worked at Xerox PARC and Atari Research Labs. Ted’s innovations have contributed to products including medical devices, notebook computers, operating systems, and more. His work has resulted in numerous awards, patents, and papers and has often been featured in the national and international press.

Konstantinos Sirlantzis. Konstantinos Sirlantzis is currently a Professor of Applied Artificial Intelligence with the School of Engineering, Technology and Design at CCCU. He leads the AI and Intelligent Systems Research Group. Previously, he was an Associate Professor of intelligent systems with the School of Engineering, University of Kent, where he was the Head of the Robotics and Assistive Technologies Research Group and the Founding Director of the Kent Assistive RObotics Laboratory (KAROL). He has a strong track record in artificial intelligence and neural networks for image analysis and understanding, and robotic systems, with an emphasis on assistive technologies and pattern recognition for biometrics-based security applications. He has authored over 130 peer-reviewed papers in journals and conferences. He has organized and chaired a range of international conferences and workshops.

Phillippe de Wilde. Professor of Artificial Intelligence in the Division of Natural Science of the University of Kent. I have done machine learning research for 37 years. My current projects are in machine learning for image processing. I have a keen interest in small AI models, and in the philosophy of AI.

Matthew Graham. I’m a research professor in astronomy at the California Institute of Technology and the Project Scientist for the Zwicky Transient Survey (https://ztf.caltech.edu) – I’m also a long term research in the use of machine learning in astronomy, the Vice Chair of the AAS Working Group on Data Science, and the Chair of the La Serena Data Science School, which has been running for over ten years now.

Sam Clarke. Sam Clarke is a Lecturer in Primary Education within the School of Teacher Education at CCCU. His research has included using generative artificial intelligence to catalyse further interdisciplinarity across higher education.

Joe Shimwell. Joe Shimwell is a Senior Lecturer within the department of Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering at Northumbria University. He is a Science Outreach Specialist for Primary and Early Years, designing and implementing primary science outreach opportunities. He is also Director of Training at ATE Superweeks, a not-for-profit educational trust specialising in building community, play and creativity, leadership, personal development, well-being and events delivery.

Zuri Gray. Zuri Gray is a final year PhD student at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium. Her research focusses on small bodies of the solar system, such as asteroids and comets, and uses big telescopes around the world to observe and study these celestial objects. A notable highlight of her career so far has been her roles as a support astronomer at the 2.5m Nordic Optical Telescope, a world-renowned telescope in the Canary Islands.

Marc Sarzi. Marc Sarzi is the Head of Research at the Armagh Observatory & Planetarium and former STFC Public Engagement Fellow at the University of Hertfordshire, following a Ph.D. and Laurea in Astronomy at the University of Padua, Italy.

Martin Watts. After a career as a navigator in the Merchant Navy, I took a part time history degree and then a PhD (First World War) 20 years ago. Since then, I have taught with the Open University and at CCCU, where I have authored several inter-disciplinary modules.

Registration

Registration is now closed.

The course this year will support face-to-face, hybrid and online engagement and will take up to a maximum of ten students attending in person. All students who attend the Online Event are also invited to attend the online/hybrid sessions Mon-Wed. Students with an interest in AI are encouraged to apply, whether you are just beginning your explorations into AI or already using AI in your research.

Eligibility. Those eligible to register are:
a) STFC-funded astronomy PhD students,
b) final year undergraduate and master’s students in physics or computer science.
Female students are especially encouraged to apply.

Cost. The summer school is free for those matching the eligibility criteria above, although if you are not funded by STFC then you will need to cover your own travel costs. Self-funded astronomy PhD students may also apply for the summer school but there will be a fee of £590. The online event is completely free for all attendees.

Summer school attendees will automatically have access to the online event without the need for separate registration.

Please provide the following information:

  • Your full name & pronouns.
  • Your associated university.
  • Whether you are an astronomy PhD student, a final year undergraduate or master’s student in physics or computer science, and if you are STFC-funded.
  • Do you wish to register for the summer school or just the online event?

If registering for the summer school, please provide the following additional information:

  • Your reasons for applying.
  • Do you wish to attend in-person or remotely?
  • Do you wish to participate in the public engagement training on Thursday and the outreach event on Friday?

Location

About Canterbury Christ Church University

Canterbury Christ Church is a modern multi-campus university with around 15,000 students and 1,800 staff.

Our Canterbury Campus

Situated on a World Heritage Site, our Canterbury campus offers great facilities, you can step out into a vibrant and world-famous cathedral city while benefitting from excellent learning and teaching resources, music venues, a super sports centre, a well-stocked bookshop and plenty of coffee bars and places to eat.

Our multi-million-pound investment over the last decade on new and renovated buildings is part of our commitment to providing a first-class student experience. Developments started with the creation of a stunning creative arts building, followed by a major facility for science, technology, health, engineering and medicine.

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